Gazette file photoJohn Ellegood and Thomas Taylor, inspectors with the NRC, walk through the Palisades nuclear plant earlier this year.

BY ANTHONY J. VITALE

After more than four decades of safe and reliable operation, the Palisades nuclear power plant has been in the news often over the past few months – most recently in a July 19 story in this newspaper. While the health and safety of the public and our employees have never been compromised, I want you to know what we’re doing to return Palisades to the highest levels of safety and operational performance.

When we saw indications Palisades wasn’t meeting our high standards, we immediately conducted a thorough analysis to understand why. We then developed a comprehensive improvement plan focused on all aspects of our operation -- people, processes and plant equipment. We were greatly assisted in this effort by the resources available to us as part of the Entergy nuclear fleet. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed our plan and their own resident inspectors stationed at Palisades are actively monitoring the aggressive steps we’re taking to return Palisades to top performance.

While we’re focused on making long-term improvements that will last, I am pleased to report progress is already evident. We have completed the majority of the corrective actions in our plan and we conducted a very safe and efficient refueling outage this spring during which we made substantial improvements to plant equipment. After a number of recent inspections and visits, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has indicated we are moving in the right direction.

Another indication of our progress is feedback I am getting from employees. I make it a priority to meet regularly with small groups of employees to hear first-hand whether our actions are being effective. Through that dialogue, it is clear we are successfully returning the culture to one where employees feel free to raise issues and have confidence that their voices will be heard. Changes in some key site leadership positions have accelerated this improvement.

Just as we are deeply committed to operating Palisades at the highest levels of safety, we are equally committed to emergency planning. We have a detailed plan for responding in the unlikely event of an emergency and we test that plan regularly with the participation of local and state emergency response organizations.

I bring this up to provide some context to the potassium iodide pills mentioned in this paper’s recent story about Palisades. As part of our commitment to a constant state of readiness, we send emergency planning information to residents within a 10-mile radius of Palisades. This year, the annual mailing contained an insert written by the Michigan Department of Community Health about the availability of potassium iodide tablets. Since 2001, federal law requires state and local governments to consider making potassium iodide available for distribution near nuclear plants. Some might conclude from the Gazette’s article that the insert was prompted by recent events at Palisades. It was not. In fact, the state first took this step three years ago for all three nuclear plants in Michigan.

We consider it a privilege to generate electricity in southwest Michigan and we take the trust of our neighbors very seriously. That’s why our unrelenting focus is on returning Palisades to the highest levels of safety and reliability.